Page last amended 19 August 2023

Australia

For individual States see below

Community

Area 7,741,220 square kilometres (land area 7,682,300 square kilometres)

Population,

62,190 (1830)*

180,626 (1840)

405,660 (1850)

1,141,563 (1860)

1,650,172 (1870)

2,245,448 (1880)

3,177,502 (1891)

3,774,310 (1901)

4,455,005 (1911)

5,455,734 (1921)

6,629,839 (1933)

7,446,300 (1946)

8,219,000 (1950)

10,280,000 (1960) +25.1%

12,507,000 (1970) +21.7%

14,692,000 (1980) +17.5%

17,065,000 (1990) +16.2%

19,651,000 (2000) +15.2%

22,031,000 (2010) +12.1%

25,687,000 (2020) +16.6%

*Europeans only.� The Indigenous population of Australia, as European colonisation began, was around 1,000,000.� However the Indigenous population fell rapidly in the face of armed conflict with European settlers, and as new diseases were acquired from Europeans; Between 1820 and 1850 the number of Indigenous inhabitants fell from 600,000 to 300,000.� As late as the 1960s, Indigenous children were being forcibly removed from their parents in a policy of �assimilation�.� Indigenous persons have only been included in the census figures since 1967.

Ethnicity, % Most Australians have British ancestry.

	Indigenous Australian	Asian (mainly Chinese and Indian)
1933	0.3	0.3
1947	0.4	0.2
1960	0.7
1976	1.0
2001	2.2	7.0
2011	2.5
2016	2.8

Religion,%

	Buddhist	Christian Anglican	Christian Protestant	Christian R C	Hindu	Jewish	Muslim	None
1906	0.2	39.8	33.8	22.0		0.4	0.3
1970	0.1	33.8	26.8	28.6		0.5	0.2
1990		26.0		26.0
2000		20.7	20.7	26.6			1.0
2006	2.1	18.7		25.8	0.6	0.4		18.7
2016	2.5	13.3		22.6	1.3	0.4	2.6	30.1

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1890							41.4
1901					34.9
1912		28.0 (+17.1)		10.9
1933		16.9 (+7.9)	41.0	9.0
1940		19.5 (+9.5)		10.0
1945			29.0
1950		23.0 (+14.0)	24.0	9.0	26.5	8.1	72.1
1960	3.5	22.0 (+13.4)	20.4	8.6	30.1	8.6	81.5
1970	2.7	20.0 (+11.0)	16.0	9.0	29.1	8.2	85.3
1980	1.9	15.0 (+7.7)	11.0	7.3	25.3	9.6	85.8
1990	1.9	15.0 (+8.0)	8.5	7.0	22.1	11.1	85.4
2000	1.8	13.0 (+6.3)	5.1	6.7	20.9	12.3	84.2
2010	1.9	12.4 (+5.8)	4.0	6.6	19.0	13.4	85.1
2015	1.8	12.7 (+6.1)	3.2	6.6	18.8	15.0
2017	1.8	12.4 (+5.9)	3.1	6.5	19.1		85.9
2018			3.1		19.2	15.7	86.0

Life expectancy,

57.0 (1905); 55.2 (M), 58.8 (F)

65.3 (1933); 63.5 (M), 67.1 (F)

69.5 (1952); 67.0 (M), 72.0 (F)

70.9 (1960); 67.8 (M), 74.0 (F)

71.0 (1970); 67.8 (M), 74.4 (F)

74.3 (1980); 70.9 (M), 78.0 (F)

77.0 (1990); 74.0 (M), 80.2 (F)

79.2 (2000); 76.6 (M), 82.0 (F)

81.7 (2010); 79.5 (M), 84.0 (F)

83.5 (2020); 81.6 (M), 85.4 (F)

Population of principal cities, For other cities see individual States below.

CANBERRA, The capital of Australia was originally Melbourne; construction began in 1913 and Canberra became the capital in 1927. The name derives from the Aboriginal word canberry, meaning �meeting place�. The site was chosen in 1908, to settle a competition to be capital city between Melbourne and Sydney.

100,090 (1967)

130,000 (1970)

196,640 (1976)

290,000 (1990)

323,056 (2009)

367,752 (2012)

403,468 (2016)

Wealth; Gross Domestic Product (nominal values)

	GDP, US$ million	Total GDP, % of USA	GDP per capita, US$	GDP per capita % of USA
1948	6,256	2.80	812	53.25
1955	9,500	2.65
1960	18,593	3.42	1,809	60.16
1965	25,963	3.49	2,130	55.64
1970	36,760	3.54	3,098	59.04
1975	95,640	5.85	6,886	88.06
1980	156,280	5.59	10,661	84.62
1985	166,390	3.95	10,574	57.88
1990	307,330	5.30	17,886	74.66
1995	363,720	4.91	18,720	62.26
2000	381,920	3.83	19,776	54.26
2005	700,700	5.35	34,017	76.77
2010	1,132,000	7.56	50,750	104.91
2015	1,345,000	7.46	56,554	100.62
2016	1,204,000	6.48	49,928	86.88

GDP by primary sector

	Agriculture % GDP	Agriculture % employed	Industry % GDP	Industry % employed	Services % GDP	Services % employed
1960		11.0		40.0		49.0
1970		8.0
1980	4.0	7.0		33.0		62.0
1990	4.0	6.0		24.0	63.0	78.0
2000			26.8	19.0
2010	4.0	3.6	25.6	21.1	70.0	75.3
2016	3.6		26.5		69.9

Communications

Language, % Official; English

	Arabic	Chinese (all)	English	Greek	Italian	Vietnamese
2006	1.2	2.5	78.5	1.3	1.6	1.0
2016	1.4	3.7	72.7		1.2	1.2

Literacy

83.9% (1861)

89.7% (1901)

98.5% (1980)

99.9% (2000 onwards)

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Surfaced (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles
1945				512,393	306,445
1947	797,000			590,000	414,340
1951				955,537	579,492
1956			2,150,000
1960			2,833,728	1,924,178	807,060
1963					902,000
1968			4,463,251	3,444,806	921,705
1976				5,284,000	1,260,500
1980		238,000	7,450,000	5,800,000
1988			9,221,100	7,243,600
1992				7,913,200	2,041,300
2004	812,972	423,470
2005			13,612,000	10,896,410	2,479,000
2010	820,131		15,473,000	12,269,306
2011	823,217			12,474,044
2013			16,853,000
2017			18,800,000

Railways; First railway opened 1854

Length, kilometres, (% e = electrified)

43,550 (1945)

44,450 (1955)

41,187 (1962)

40,496 (1964)

40,753 (1976)

40,807 (1990)

38,446 (2010)

36,968 (2014) (8.4% e)

Electronic communications , TV broadcasts began 1956 (Sydney and Melbourne)

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios 1,000s	TVs, 1,000s	PCs 1,000s	Internet Users 1,000s
1938	630,175		1,056
1945			1,484
1948	688,348		1,833
1951	1,182,035
1959	2,056,447
1960			2,284	1,122
1961	2,266,307
1963				1,655
1980	4,742,662
1987		4,420
1988					1,700
1990	7,786,900	185,000	21,600	8,200	2,556
1995		2,242,000	23,300		4,979
1998						4,200
2000	10,350,000	8,560,000	36,700	14,130	9,000
2004					13,720
2005	11,460,000	18,420,000				5,980
2010		24,500,000		18,700		18,000
2012	10,470,000
2016	8,180,000	26,550,000				20,288

Tourism: Visitors to Australia,

426,403 (1972)

472,124 (1973)

904,558 (1980)

1,785,000 (1987)

2,215,000 (1990)

3,726,000 (1995)

4,530,000 (2000)

5,499,000 (2005)

5,790,000 (2010)

7,444,000 (2015)

_____________________________________________________________________

13) Australia � Capital Territory

Community

Area 2,349 square kilometres

Population,

1,714 (1911)

2,572 (1921)

8,947 (1933)

16,905 (1947)

30,315 (1954)

58,828 (1961)

145,574 (1971)

203,349 (1976)

280,085 (1991)

299,243 (1996)

311,947 (2001)

324,034 (2006)

409,100 (2017)

431,200 (2020)

Religion

Christian; Anglican, 27.8% (2006)

Christian; Roman Catholic, 46.5% (2006)

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
2003			5.8
2005	1.6		5.5
2007			3.8
2011							99.5
2014			3.6
2015	1.7

Life expectancy,

80.7 (2001); 78.5 (M), 82.9 (F)

81.9 (2005); 79.9 (M), 84.0 (F)

82.2 (2007); 80.3 (M), 84.0 (F)

83.2 (2015); 81.2 (M), 85.3 (F)

Communications

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles	Railways (km)
1945					8
1985					8
1998	2,583
2002	2,610
2003		213,396
2004	2,645	224,076
2011			258,904
2016		283,752

Electronic communications

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
2001					173,305	123,178

_____________________________________________________________________

14) Australia � New South Wales

Community

Area 801,352 square kilometres

Population,

350,860 (1861)

749,825 (1881)

1,127,137 (1891)

1,355,355 (1901)

1,646,734 (1911)

2,100,371 (1921)

2,600,847 (1933)

2,984,838 (1947)

3,423,529 (1954)

3,917,013 (1961)

4,601,180 (1971)

5,126,217 (1981)

5,401,881 (1986)

5,730,947 (1991)

6,326,579 (2001)

6,549,177 (2006)

7,837,700 (2017)

8,166,000 (2020)

Ethnicity,

Chinese 4.3% (2011)

Religion,

1906, Church of England 46.6%; Roman Catholic 26.0%; Presbyterian 9.9%; Methodists 10.3%; Jews 0.5%,

Christian; Anglican, 21.8% (2006)

Christian; Roman Catholic, 28.2% (2006)

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1865		42.0 (+25.2)		16.2
1900		28.0 (+16.0)		12.0
1906		26.8
1957			22.7
1966			18.7
1976			12.5
1981		15.4 (+7.6)	10.5	7.8
1991		14.8 (+7.6)	7.2	7.2
1996		14.0 (+6.7)		7.3
2001		12.8 (+6.1)	5.3	6.7
2005	1.9	12.8 (+6.2)	4.9	6.6
2007		13.0 (+6.2)	4.3	6.8
2011							90.1
2014			3.3
2015	1.9

Life expectancy,

51.2 (1900)

78.0 (1996); 75.0 (M), 80.9 (F)

79.7 (2001); 76.9 (M), 82.4 (F)

80.9 (2005); 78.5 (M), 83.3 (F)

81.2 (2007); 79.1 (M), 83.8 (F)

82.5 (2015); 80.4 (M), 94.6 (F)

Population of principal cities

SYDNEY, Sydney was established as the first penal colony in Australia in 1788.� In that year it was settled by 1,487 British, of whom 759 were convicts. The original name was to be Albion but the city�s founder, Arthur Philip, named it after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend Lord Sydney. From the 1830s, copper and wool exports from the interior of Australia made Sydney an important port; further population growth was caused by the gold rush of 1851.� There was considerable immigration from the 1880s onwards.� Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in 1932, and the city�s famous Opera House opened in 1973.

3,000 (1800)

12,000 (1820)

39,000 (1851)

93,596 (1862)

200,000 (1871)

220,427 (1881)

386,400 (1891)

488,382 (1901)

610,000 (1911)

1,000,000 (1825)

1,398,170 (1943)

1,700,000 (1950)

2,098,490 (1960)

2,646,800 (1968)

3,000,000 (1978)

3,431,000 (1986)

3,713,000 (1991)

3,948,015 (2001)

4,119,190 (2006)

4,627,345 (2012)

5,029,768 (2016)

Communications

Literacy, 97.8% (1896)

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles
1945			289,774	89,719
1960		1,072,318	628,072	310,583
1970		1,700,000	1,100,000
1980		2,500,000	1,900,000
1990		3,050,000	2,400,000
1992				654,600
1997	180,849
2000		3,700,000	2,900,000
2002	182,006
2004	182,167
2006	183,120	4,268,631	3,395,905	721,375
2011			4,778,421
2016		5,247,189

Railways; First railway opened 1855. Sydney, tramway opened 1996.

Length, kilometres

112 (1860)

546 (1870)

1,367 (1880)

3,513 (1890)

5,150 (1900)

5,865 (1910)

8,074 (1920)

9,618 (1930)

9,887 (1940)

9,840 (1950)

9,825 (1960) (3.6% e)

9,773 (1979)

9,917 (1990) (8.2% e)

Electronic communications , 1,000s items

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
1945	280,161		571,790
2000		8,600			1,250	785
2001		11,200
2003		14,300
2005					1,800

_____________________________________________________________________

15) Australia � Northern Territory

Community

Area 1,352,212 �square kilometres

Population,

3,451 (1881)

4,811 (1901)

3,310 (1911)

3,867 (1921)

4,850 (1933)

10,868 (1947)

16,489 (1954)

44,500 (1961)

102,924 (1974)

122,616 (1981)

165,500 (1991)

188,075 (2001)

211,945 (2011)

245,000 (2017)

246,500 (2020)

Ethnicity, %

	Indigenous Australian
1976	24.0
2011	14.7

Religion, %

	Buddhist	Christian Anglican	Christian R C	Hindu	Muslim	No Religion
2006		12.3	21.2			23.1
2011	0.8	10.6	19.7	0.4	0.3

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1970		36.5 (+28.0)	48.4	8.5
1996			11.5
2003		19.1 (+14.7)	11.5	4.4
2005	2.2	18.0 (+13.2)	10.7	4.8
2007		18.1 (+13.4)	8.5	4.7
2011							71.6
2014			4.6
2015	2.1

Life expectancy,

72.1 (1996); 69.2 (M), 75.0 (F)

73.5 (2001); 71.0 (M), 76.0 (F)

75.6 (2005); 72.5 (M), 78.2 (F)

75.4 (2007); 72.4 (M), 78.4 (F)

77.1 (2015); 75.5 (M), 78.5 (F)

Population of principal cities

Alice Springs, Named after Lady Alice Todd, wife of Sir Charles Todd, Postmaster General of South Australia. A settlement was founded here in 1872, on the telegraph line between Darwin and Adelaide; the town�s population grew after gold was discovered at Arltunga, 100 kilometres away, in 1887. The railway reached Alice Springs in 1929.

16,500 (1979)

25,586 (1991)

26,306 (2002)

26,468 (2005)

27,400 (2006)

25,186 (2011)

23,726 (2016)

DARWIN, The Darwin area was first visited in 1839 by John Lort Stokes, who named it Port Darwin, after Charles Darwin.� A settlement was founded here in 1869 and named Palmerston (after the then Prime Minister of Britain), this city was renamed as Darwin in 1911.� The city occupies a strategic position; in 1872 it became the landfall point of the undersea cable to Britain, and also the terminus of the Stuart Highway which links Darwin to Alice Springs.� In 1942 Darwin was heavily bombed by the Japanese; 243 people died in the first enemy attack on Australian territory.

4,400 (1941)

21,065 (1966)

43,344 (1976)

50,612 (1979)

69,000 (1986)

78,139 (1991)

68,378 (2002)

70,055 (2005)

Metropolitan area,

105,991 (2006)

145,916 (2016)

Communications

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Surfaced (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles	Railways km
1980		5,598
1985						278
1992		5,908	100,000
1996	20,541
2001	20,627
2002			126,562	93,002
2004	22,097
2006					33,597
2011				137,082
2016			155,035

Railways; A single main line ran southwards from Darwin to Birdum (509 km). The first, northern, section (Darwin to Pine Creek, 235km) opened in 1889. Birdum was reached in 1929. The narrow gauge line was extended from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs railway opened in 1929. Subsequent rail improvements included the opening of a normal gauge line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs in 1980. In 2004 a normal gauge railway all the way from Adelaide to Darwin began operations.

Electronic communications

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
2001					63,480	26,801
2006						35,000

_____________________________________________________________________

16) Australia � Queensland

Community

Area 1,734,190 square kilometres

Population,

34,400 (1861)

125,000 (1871)

227,000 (1881)

393,718 (1891)

498,129 (1901)

605,813 (1911)

755,972 (1921)

947,534 (1933)

1,106,415 (1947)

1,318,259 (1954)

1,518,828 (1961)

1,827,065 (1971)

2,295,123 (1981)

2,977,810 (1991)

3,522,044 (2001)

4,516,000 (2011)

5,185,000 (2020)

Ethnicity, % (place of birth)

	Australia	England	N Zealand	Scotland	S Africa
2006	75.2	4.1	4.8	0.6	0.6

Religion, %

	Buddhist	Christian Anglican	Christian R C	Hindu	Muslim	No religion
2006		20.4	24.0
2016	1.5	15.3	21.7	1.0	1.0	29.7

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1863		43.0 (+21.9)		21.1
1873		40.8 (+20.8)		18.0
1883		36.4 (+17.3)		19.1
1893		35.2 (+22.5)		12.8
1903		26.6
1968		20.3 (+11.0)	20.3	9.3
1980		15.6 (+8.3)	11.3	7.3
1991		14.9 (+8.4)		6.5
1996		14.3 (+7.6)	6.3	6.7
2001		13.1 (+6.8)	5.9	6.3
2005	1.9	13.0 (+7.1)	5.1	5.9
2007		14.6 (+8.4)	5.0	6.2
2011							86.9
2014			4.5
2015	1.8

Life expectancy,

79.2 (2000); 76.4 (M), 81.9 (F)

80.4 (2005); 77.8 (M), 82.9 (F)

81.3 (2007); 78.9 (M), 83.6 (F)

82.2 (2015); 80.0 (M), 84.3 (F)

Population of principal cities

BRISBANE, Brisbane was founded in 1824, at a convenient bridging point of the marshy Brisbane River.� It became a penal colony in 1825; civilian settlers arrived from 1838, and penal settlement ceased after 1839. �The town�s original name was Edenglassie, but was re-named after Thomas Brisbane, the governor of New South Wales.� It became the Queensland State capital in 1959.

13,000 (1860)

26,911 (1876)

31,109 (1881)

54,315 (1901)

119,428 (1901, inc. suburbs)

128,000 (1905)

370,500 (1943)

444,000 (1950)

567,000 (1959)

957,710 (1976)

1,028,930 (1980)

1,300,000 (1990)

1,630,000 (2000)

1,763,131 (2006)

2,146,577 (2011)

2,360,241 (2016)

Communications

Literacy, 97.7% (1901)

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Surfaced (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles
1945				70,000	57,605
1969			652,018	473,189	158,400
1980	160,341	46,154	1,256,000	884,000
1992	174,429	60,701	1,767,000	1,343,800	412,000
1996	177,032	65,129
2001	178,295	68,076
2003			2,552,061	1,997,117	553,000
2004	181,305	70,608
2006			2,897,867	2,134,364	624,037
2011				3,401,932
2016			3,771,321

Railways; First railway opened 1865

Length, kilometres

333 (1870)

1,029 (1880)

3,400 (1890)

4,510 (1900)

5,894 (1910)

9,105 (1920)

10,331 (1930)

10,412 (1940)

10,402(1950)

10,300 (1960)

9,904 (1980)

9,789 (1985)

2,460 e (1992)

9,514 (2000)

8,360 (2006)

Electronic communications , 1,000s items

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
1945			185,948
1993	1,450
2000					668	408
2005					1,900	937

_____________________________________________________________________

17) Australia � South Australia

Community

Area 985,324 square kilometres

Population,

185,420 (1871)

212,528 (1876)

315,312 (1891)

358,346 (1901)

408,558 (1911)

495,160 (1921)

580,949 (1933)

646,073 (1947)

969,340 (1961)

1,173,707 (1971)

1,285,033 (1981)

1,400,656 (1991)

1,470,057 (2001)

1,514,337 (2006)

1,721,000 (2017)

1,771,000 (2020)

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1863		44.1(+28.4)		15.7
1873		37.2(+21.4)		15.8
1883		38.5(+23.8)		14.7
1893		31.2(+19.1)		12.1
1901		25.2 (+13.9)		11.3
1947		25.2
1967		18.3	16.3
1970		19.5 (+10.7)		8.8
1980			10.1
1991			6.5
2001		11.4 (+3.5)	4.7	7.9
2005	1.8	11.5 (+3.7)		7.8
2007		12.4 (+4.6)	4.5	7.8
2011							88.1
2014			2.3
2015	1.8

Life expectancy,

79.8 (2001); 77.0 (M), 82.5 (F)

80.8 (2005); 78.1 (M), 83.4 (F)

81.4 (2007); 78.8 (M), 83.9 (F)

82.4 (2015); 80.3 (M), 84.4 (F)

Population of principal cities

ADELAIDE, Founded in 1836, Adelaide is named after the wife of King William IV of Great Britain.

27,208 (1871)

38,981 (1901)

362,500 (1943)

432,000 (1950)

587,656 (1961)

987,080 (1985)

1,071,000 (1993)

1,045,854 (1996)

1,105,839 (2006)

1,262,940 (2011)

1,324,279 (2016)

Communications

Literacy, 97.7% (1901)

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Surfaced (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles
1945				61,372	26,959
1960				192,853	67,693
1969				349,777	87,354
1981				484,235	123,833
1985					148,206
1993		25,042		719,600
1996	95,333	25,900
1999	96,450	27,117		838,485
2004	96,574	28,557
2006			1,137,957	915,059	180,637
2011				1,261,925
2016			1,347,514

Railways; First railway opened 1854

Length, kilometres

90 (1860)

214 (1870)

913 (1880)

1,911 (1890)

2,027 (1900)

2,310 (1910)

3,756 (1920)

4,081 (1930)

4,117 (1940)

4,109 (1950)

4,050 (1960)

4,992 (1991)

4,535 (2001)

Electronic communications

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
1945			150,881
1969	224,174
1980	449,724
1991	740,853
1994	805,478
2000					295,000	176,000
2005					429,000	356,000

_____________________________________________________________________

18) Australia � Tasmania

Community

Area 67,914 square kilometres (main island 63,447 square kilometres)

Population,

64,873 (1854)

93,307 (1864)

100,765 (1870)

115,705 (1881)

146,667 (1891)

172,475 (1901)

191,211 (1911)

213,780 (1921)

227,599 (1933)

257,078 (1947)

308,752 (1954)

350,340 (1961)

398,100 (1971)

427,200 (1981)

460,470 (1991)

460,672 (2001)

476,481 (2006)

520,100 (2017)

541,100 (2020)

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1878				16.5
1903				11.0
1905		29.3
2003		12.1 (+3.8)	7.0	8.3
2005	2.1	13.0 (+5.0)		8.0
2007	2.2	13.5 (+5.1)		8.4
2011	2.1						73.8
2014			5.5
2015	1.9

Religion

Roman Catholic, 18.0% (1905)

Life expectancy,

78.5 (2000); 75.7 (M), 81.2 (F)

79.7 (2005); 77.2 (M), 82.1 (F)

80.1 (2007); 77.7 (M), 82.4 (F)

80.9 (2015); 78.9 (M); 82.8 (F)

Population of principal cities

HOBART, Founded in 1804 as a penal colony, the city is named after Lord Hobart, British Colonial Secretary

19,449 (1861)

19,092 (1871)

24,905 (1891)

34,182 (1901)

45,000 (1911)

70,800 (1945)

119,469 (1966)

131,524 (1976)

181,838 (1991)

191,169 (2001)

211,656 (2011)

225,000 (2016)

Launceston, �Founded in 1806, the town is named after Launceston in Cornwall, UK

2,000 (1827)

10,359 (1861)

21,294 (1901)

40,000 (1945)

60,456 (1966)

93,347 (1991)

95,982 (1996)

95,604 (2001)

103,325 (2006)

106,153 (2011)

Communications

Literacy, 79.7% (1901)

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles
1945			17,172	7,331
1968			110,000	33,000
1979	21,676
1983	22,210		190,000
1992			227,900
2000	24,000		235,000	75,000
2004	24,644
2006		374,846	271,365	87,221
2011			419,009
2016		450,403

Railways; First railway opened 1871

Length, kilometres

72 (1880)

564 (1890)

705 (1900)

742 (1910)

1,009 (1920)

1,061 (1930)

1,039 (1940)

1,047 (1950)

910 (1960)

851 (1980)

784 (1992)

867 (2001)

Electronic communications

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
1945	19,565		50,720
2000					84,000	48,000
2005					121,000
2006						112,000

_____________________________________________________________________

19) Australia � Victoria

Community

Area 227,590 square kilometres

Population,

76,152 (1850)

537,847 (1860)

720,599 (1870)

881,566 (1881)

1,140,088 (1891)

1,201,070 (1901)

1,315,551 (1911)

1,531,280 (1921)

1,820,261 (1933)

2,054,834 (1947)

2,452,341 (1954)

2,930,113 (1961)

3,502,351 (1971)

3,832,443 (1981)

4,373,520 (1996)

4,660,991 (2001)

5,500,000 (2011)

6,290,700 (2017)

6,681,000 (2020)

Ethnicity

	Aborigines	Australian	Chinese	Greek	Italian	Vietnamese
1947		91.3
1966		79.0
1976	0.2
1996					2.3	1.3
2006			1.1	1.4	1.7	1.2
2016		72.0

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1863		43.3(25.9)		17.4
1873		35.7(20.1)		15.6
1883		30.8(16.1)		14.7
1893		31.1(17.0)		14.1
1900		25.9 (+13.1)		12.8
1968		21.1 (+12.1)	14.4	9.0
1985		14.5 (+6.9)		7.6
1991		14.8
1996		14.0
2000		12.4 (+5.7)		6.7
2005	1.7	12.6 (+6.1)	5.1	6.5
2007		13.5 (+7.0)	3.8	6.5
2011							90.5
2014			3.5
2015	1.7

Life expectancy,

79.7 (2000); 77.1 (M), 82.3 (F)

81.3 (2005); 79.0 (M), 83.6 (F)

81.6 (2007); 79.3 (M), 83.8 (F)

82.9 (2015); 81.1 (M), 84.7 (F)

Population of principal cities

MELBOURNE, First settled in 1835 by two stockbreeders, John Batman and John Bascoe, who acquired land from the Aborigines for ranching.� The settlement here was first named Dootigala.� �Melbourne was incorporated as a city in 1842; in 1837 it was named after the British Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2^nd Viscount Melbourne.� The Gold Rush of 1851 caused considerable expansion of the city; the first docks were constructed in 1893, spurring further growth. �Melbourne was the capital of Australia from 1901 until 1927.

11,000 (1841)

25,000 (1850)

40,000 (1851)

191,000 (1861)

206,780 (1871)

282,907 (1881)

494,394 (1901)

562,000 (1911)

1,184,000 (1944)

1,340,000 (1950)

1,831,100 (1960)

2,108,499 (1966)

2,480,770 (1976)

2,578,759 (1981)

2,865,329 (1996)

3,524,103 (2002)

3,592,590 (2006)

4,170,000 (2011)

4,725,316 (2016)

Communications

Literacy, 97.5% (1901)

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles
1945			141,856	96,088
1969		1,245.638
1980	156,610	1,996,700
1984	157,311
1988	160,398
1990		2,000,000
2000		3,100,000
2004	162,700
2006		3,740,726	2,997,856	620,630
2011			4,198,371
2016		4,567,314

Railways; First railway opened 1854

Length, kilometres

137 (1860)

409 (1870)

1,931 (1880)

3,977 (1890)

5,181 (1900)

5,621 (1910)

6,785 (1920)

7,588 (1930)

7,662 (1940)

7,546 (1950)

7,100 (1960) (5.7% e)

6,913 (1980)

5,760 (1985)

4,955 (1992)

4,917 (1995) (7.8% e)

Melbourne, light rail and tram (kilometres)

228 (1992)

240 (1995)

250 (2017)

Electronic communications

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
1945	228,936		413,492
2000					973,000	598,000
2005					1,360,000	1,160,000

_____________________________________________________________________

20) Australia � Western Australia

Community

Area 2,532,422 square kilometres

Population, Census years in bold

1,003 (1829)*

18,780 (1863)

29,708 (1881)

49,782 (1891)

184,124 (1901)

282,114 (1911)

332,732 (1921)

438,852 (1933)

502,480 (1947)

639,771 (1954)

736,629 (1961)

1,043,100 (1971)

1,300,856 (1981)

1,586,393 (1991)

1,828,294 (2001)

1,959,088 (2006)

2,576,000 (2017)

2,667,000 (2020)

*Europeans only

Ethnicity, %

	Australian Indigenous	Chinese	European
2001	3.1	2.2	77.5

Birth and death rates Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
2003		12.4 (+6.6)	4.1	5.8
2005	1.9	13.1 (+7.5)	4.6	5.6
2007		13.8 (+8.0)		5.8
2011							89.4
2014			2.6
2015	1.8

Life expectancy,

79.8 (2000); 76.9 (M), 82.6 (F)

81.3 (2005); 78.8 (M), 83.8 (F)

81.6 (2007); 79.2 (M), 84.0 (F)

82.8 (2015), 80.5 (M), 85.0 (F)

Population of principal cities

PERTH, Perth was founded in 1829 as a penal colony, and attained city status in 1856. It is named after Perth in Scotland, UK, the birthplace of the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. The city grew rapidly after gold was discovered at Kalgoorlie in 1893.

4,000 (1854)

6,293 (1859)

8,220 (1870)

9,955 (1881)

16,694 (1891)

67.431 (1901)

116,181 (1911)

170,213 (1921)

230,340 (1933)

240,000 (1945)

310,000 (1950)

395,000 (1960)

559,298 (1966)

731,275 (1976)

902,000 (1980)

1,188,762 (1991)

1,445,078 (2006)

2,022,044 (2016)

Communications

Literacy, 96.4% (1901)

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Motor vehicles	Cars	Commercial Vehicles
1940	47,852
1945			30,486	25,843
1979	120,864
1992	140,976
1997	142,001
2004	148,456
2006		1,600,566	1,205,266	371,480
2011			1,912,739
2016		2,185,409

Railways; First railway opened 1879

Length, kilometres

53 (1880)

302 (1890)

2,182 (1900)

3,453 (1910)

5,698 (1920)

6,619 (1930)

7,053 (1940)

6,846 (1950)

6,630 (1960)

5,563 (1985)

5,369 (1998)

Electronic communications

	Telephones (landlines)	Mobile Telephones	Radios	Televisions	PCs	Internet Users
1945			102,622
1969	231,845
1985	540,574
2000					390,000	241,000
2005					560,000	484,000